


In The Palm Of A Bloody Hand

by BTS2016dia



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Atsumu makes an appearance, He Just Doesn't Know It Yet, He actually appears a lot, He's whipped for Semi, M/M, Mates, No beta we die like Ushi's ability to express his feelings, Painter Tendou Satori, Semi is in a band, Shirabu is a part-time bartender, Sorry I lied about Atsumu, Vampire!Ushijima, Yes you read that right, brief descriptions of violence and death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 08:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30119763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BTS2016dia/pseuds/BTS2016dia
Summary: “I- You were bleeding that day,”Fresh blood. A hungry vampire who usually restrains himself from hunting live human prey. Instant disaster waiting to happen.The taste of human blood after forcing himself to stick to the plain, unsatisfactory blood of animals for so long had been overwhelming, to say the least. And it hadn’t been blood from just anyone’s body.Ushijima steels himself for backlash. “I...am your mate.”When a human begins to smell more appealing than the creatures in the forest, as a vampire, nothing could be better. Who wouldn't love a delicious free meal? For Ushijima, especially, it is nothing short of a miracle when Tendou Satori walks into his life.
Relationships: Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	In The Palm Of A Bloody Hand

**Author's Note:**

> The amount of self-indulgence in this fic is astounding. I'm sorry but Vampire Ushi just really stuck with me, and I ended up writing this over the course of a few weeks.
> 
> Thank you all for the support on SSaMB and part 2 of the UshiTen Is Superior series, it means a lot when people keep coming back to my fics to read them *sobs dramatically* 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy reading about Vampire!Ushi as much as I love writing it:)))

A drop of blood. 

An alluring scent. 

A lifelong mate. 

“Ah, shit! Sorry about that! I wasn’t paying attention.” 

A flash of glowing red, and then muffled screams. 

Eerie silence reigns in the aftermath of the scrimmage, the only evidence that anything had ever happened in the dark alleyway being the still body of a human, sucked dry and shrivelled like a prune. A single bouquet of roses lies next to the body, the petals of the flowers drooping and left scattered all over the dirt-covered ground. 

Even the city’s ever-present birds fall quiet after witnessing the gruesome scene, and it is as if the only thing keeping them from becoming the next victim is their ability to stay hidden. 

The culprit, tall and blonde, licks his lips clean of red before stalking off in the opposite direction and melting into the shadows of a nearby building. 

Three days later, news stations report about the death of a young man in his twenties, who had failed to return home on the day of his and his girlfriend's second year anniversary. 

The body was found in a secluded backstreet, and pathologists on the scene had determined that he died from excessive blood loss. 

Not one person could figure out why or how it had happened, however, and the case remained open and unsolved. Witnesses were asked to come forth, but none did, which eventually led to the conclusion that there was a murderer on the loose. 

A shocking twist involved the revealing of an unnatural death, and the police urged everyone to stay at home as much as possible until they apprehended the perpetrator. 

A few months later, another victim is found. 

  
  
  
  


Semi turns the volume of the television down to the lowest setting after the reporter on the screen starts to move on to the weather. His face is pinched with slight worry as he stares glumly at his apartment-mate. 

Tendou munches on a spoonful of chocolate ice cream, the kind that would make his gums go numb from the cold and his brain freeze, but he doesn’t seem to notice Semi’s apparent anxiety. 

“Satori...” Semi says, his voice cautious. Tendou raises one eyebrow at him, clearly unimpressed with what he’s seen. “Eita-kun, I’m sure that it’s nothing you have to specifically worry about. I know how to take care of myself.” 

Semi frowns then, unconvinced. “You always stay out late at night when you’re at the studio painting. Can’t you just move your stuff here and do all your assignments at home?” His facial muscles are tight with insistence, and the way his hands clench into fists tells a lot about what he thinks of Tendou’s habit of returning home at two in the morning on days when his inspiration hits at the worst time of the day. 

Tendou waves a hand at him dismissively, unbothered by what he’s just seen on the flat screen tv in front of them. He lays down in a different position, wrinkling his nose. “You know I can’t. I’m supposed to do all my work there because it’s the only place that offers total compensation for any accidents that happen. If I bring it home and it gets ruined somehow, I won’t have anything to submit for my course.” 

Semi makes a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. He stands and goes to sit beside Tendou’s legs, which shift on the sofa to make more space for his friend. “But what if something happens to you when you’re walking home? I’m just-” 

Tendou’s heart softens a little when he sees how disturbed Semi is, who’s been nothing but the best friend since they moved in together a little over a year ago. 

He sighs. “Alright, how about this. I’ll call you when I’m walking back. The whole way. The university isn’t that far away, so if I’m on a call with you, at least you’ll know that I’m okay.” 

Semi’s face crumples into a displeased look, but before he can voice his opinion on the less-than-foolproof plan that Tendou has come up with, Tendou retorts in response to his unpleasant expression. “Don’t give me that look, you stay up just as late as I do. Your band always makes you practice by yourself at home until midnight.” 

Semi shuts his mouth at the argument, and finds that he really has nothing much to counter it with. He purses his lips into a line. “Fine, but come back as early as you possibly can. That news report gave me the creeps.” 

Tendou smiles at him toothily and a curtain of red cascades in front of his eyes when he nods vigorously. “I’ll try. No promises, though.” 

That gets on Semi’s nerves, so he snorts and starts attacking Tendou with tickles to the sides. Tendou lets out an undignified squawk as he tries to evade the nasty hands that come at him with the intention to cause discomfort. 

“Stop that!” he yells as he jumps off the sofa and flees to the safety of his bedroom with Semi hot on his heels. 

The tub of chocolate ice cream is abandoned on their living room floor, creating an image that would have been normal were it not for the pair of glowing eyes peering into the apartment through the open window of their tiny kitchen. 

  
  
  
  


“Ah shit, sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going!” 

Tendou winces when his shoulder clips a stranger’s accidentally and he sends the poor businessman careening off the pavement and onto the hard asphalt of the road. He yanks him back by the hand before he can topple over completely, ultimately preventing a traffic accident when a car whooshes by at breakneck speed a few seconds later. 

He apologises profusely to the frazzled-looking man, hoping that his sincerity is heard and accepted. Luckily, the man is kind enough to forgive him for his pig-headedness, and he waves goodbye after ensuring that he isn’t hurt anywhere. 

Tendou turns back to the direction he was going in, guilt warring in his stomach as he thought of the consequences he would have had to face were it not for his quick reflexes and fast thinking. 

It’s late, and he’s tired, but that should be no excuse for him to so randomly bump into people with his considerably large bulk. His long limbs, at least, had been of some use, unlike his foggy brain, which is close to shutting down after a long day in school sitting in front of his easel and painting for hours. 

He thinks back to his professor’s words and advice about his latest piece of work, wishing that the teachers in university didn’t speak in riddles and expect the students to immediately understand what they were trying to get at. If Semi were with him, they would have been once again complaining about how hard university life is. 

_Oh, right. Eita._

He pulls out his phone from his pocket swiftly, dialing Semi’s number when he switches it on. The brightly-lit screen shows three missed calls, and he grimaces when he thinks about how Semi will berate him for forgetting to call again. 

A sudden chill passes through him, and he whips around to check what the cold sensation ghosting across his back had been. 

Nothing. 

He frowns, unsettled by the odd occurrence. It must have been the wind. _Eita must have rubbed off onto me somehow._

He hears the call go through, and Semi’s voice filters through the speaker of his phone. “What took you so long to call me back?!” he snaps, irritated. 

Tendou huffs out a laugh, his eyes darting from side to side to check the traffic as he crosses the road. Their apartment is now no more than five minutes away. He’ll be fine. “Well, hello to you too, Semi Semi. Couldn’t you at least say your greetings a little nicer?” 

Semi growls at him over the phone, his voice layered thick with indignation and a little bit of worry. “Where are you?” He ignores Tendou’s teasing and, instead, goes straight to the point. 

Tendou sighs, and is about to respond when he feels it again, that fleeting brush of coldness, this time on the back of his neck. His hairs stand on end and he whirls around to catch a blur of black skirt around the other end of the street. 

He swallows. 

“Satori? Are you there?” Semi asks, his tone growing apprehensive. 

Tendou releases a shaky breath, and his legs feel like they’re going to go numb. “Satori?” Semi questions again, slightly more concerned now. “What happened?” 

Tendou takes a deep breath as he turns back around and starts for their apartment quickly, his long strides extending into a slight jog as his heart starts to beat just the tiniest bit faster in his ribcage. _Don’t look back._

He rounds the corner of the street he’s on and sees his destination. Not fifty metres away. “I’m fine, Eita. But I think I’m being followed.” 

Semi’s responding stunned silence only increases the severity of the situation, and Tendou finds himself breaking into a run now that he’s closer to safety, closer to home. 

“Shit, Satori. Just- Wait for me, I’ll come down now. You’re near already, right?” Semi’s voice is tinged with fright, and there’s rustling over the phone before the echo of a door slamming jerks Tendou out of the panicked haze that has settled over his brain. 

“Yeah, I’m running there no-” he starts to say, before he crashes straight into something hard and tall and immovable. He feels his teeth slice into the inside of his cheek painfully, and feels the warm, tangy liquid that is squeezed from the wound almost immediately after. 

His surprised gasp turns into a yelp as his legs lose balance and he falls on his behind following his headlong sprint into a wall. His phone goes clattering onto the pavement with a dull thud, and the line is cut off. His screen goes black. 

Semi, on the other end of the line, freezes when he hears the sounds coming from Tendou’s side, and he can only stare in disbelief as cold dread seeps into his body from every pore when the call ends. 

“Satori?” he whispers, scared to admit that one of his worst fears has been awakened. 

“Fuck!” he swears when he doesn’t get a reply and rushes towards the elevator, smashing the button with furious strength. 

He heads straight for the staircase when it doesn’t arrive after a minute of tense silence. “ _Fuck!_ ”

  
  
  
  


Tendou rushes to stand, clapping a hand over his mouth when he feels blood pooling in it. 

“What the fuck?” he groans to himself. 

_How did I manage to bang into a whole-ass wall when there was nothing in front of me two seconds ago?_

His answer, unfortunately, is given when he lifts his head to check. The ‘wall’ is not actually a wall, and Tendou’s mouth goes dry when he realises that it’s far from what he’d been expecting. 

Barely three arms-length away stands a man. He is tall, taller than Tendou, and broad under the heavy coat he wears. His hair is dark and so are his eyes, which hold both frostiness and warmth at the same time, as strange as the sight is to Tendou. His gaze is sharp, piercing even, and it makes Tendou’s spine tingle uncomfortably; it’s as if the man is trying to read him through his facial expressions alone. 

_Is this the murderer that everyone’s been going on about lately?_ he thinks. The man sure does look like he could be a good killer, with the impressive muscles and suffocating presence he has. 

Tendou narrows his eyes at him when he doesn’t do anything but stare. 

“Can I help you?” he asks cautiously, his eyes trailing down to the ground where his phone lays, face up. The man takes a step forward, his nose wrinkling a little as he comes closer. He looks like he's smelled something awful.

Tendou backs away subtly, his heart starting to pound in his chest. He doesn’t like this, not one bit. Whatever this dude’s problem is, he clearly needs to have his head checked, because the pained look on his face is quickly giving way to a fierce one. 

“I’m not going to go down so easily.” Tendou scowls, his features twisting with anger as he bends down to pick up his phone. _Eita, where are you?_

He doesn’t know exactly how long it’s been since their call was cut off, but he doesn’t think Semi needs so much time to _get his butt over here_. At least they might be able to outmatch this guy if it's two versus one.

Before he can say another word, the man opens his mouth. The light from the streetlamps catch onto his canines momentarily and reflect them straight into Tendou’s eyes. He squints a little, wondering if he’s conjuring up the unusual sharpness to the man’s teeth. 

The words that are spoken in the man’s quiet, flat voice, however, cause his brain activities to come to a screeching halt. “I’ve been looking for you, mate.” 

Tendou gapes at him, utterly shellshocked. It is all he can do to laugh and brush it off. “Uhm, sorry but I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I don’t even know you.” 

_Mate? What mate?_ He tries not to think about the way his body reacts to the word. His limbs have frozen, and there is an unfamiliar heat curling low in his body. 

The man says nothing, only frowns. He takes a deep breath from where he’s standing, close but still far enough that he can’t reach Tendou even if he jumps. That same expression of agony contorts his features into something indescribable, and Tendou starts to edge to the side while he’s distracted. 

He makes a dash for it when he’s certain that the man has his eyes shut, but he isn’t prepared for the sudden whistle of a body flying through the air and colliding with him. 

He lets out a yelp as he’s plowed into the wall of a nearby building - a real one this time - and whimpers out loud when his head smacks into the hard concrete. Immediately, the movements stop and there is a pair of eyes hovering above his in concern. (Concern?)

His head hurts, and he can’t seem to hear anything over the ringing in his ears. _What’s he saying?_

He registers the fact that he’s being pinned to the wall like some starfish, and a quick flick of his wrists proves that he is unable to match the strength of the man who has him at his mercy now. 

“-alright?” the man says, his face a mask of worry. Tendou doesn’t need his worry. 

He pushes with all his might, struggling against the iron-like grasp on his wrists, around his hips. _What the heck is with this guy? He’s not even budging?_

Panic starts to set in, but he forces his head to think straight. “Let me go.” he hisses, tone dark and tight with fury. _I won’t die like this._

The man shakes his head, bringing his face closer to Tendou’s. “I cannot.” 

_Is he serious? What’s wrong with him?_ Tendou stifles a groan of frustration. The man is lot more stupid than he thought he’d be. For a serial killer that goes around murdering people for no apparent reason, he sure is polite. 

Tendou scoffs at him, although the movement only adds to his mounting headache. “You sure as hell can, fucking murderer. Now let go, I won’t ask a second time.” 

Something similar to disappointment and confusion flashes across the man’s face when he says that, and Tendou wonders briefly if he’s done something he shouldn’t have. 

The number of changes in the man’s expressions is astounding, and the fact that he does all that while still maintaining his vice-like grip on Tendou’s wrists is baffling. 

Tendou glances around to look for something, anything really. As long as it can help him get out of this bizarre situation, he’ll take it. There is little to nothing he can do, though, when it already takes all of his effort to not close his eyes and yield to the pounding in his head and his chest. 

That must have been one hell of a hit to his head if he’s this woozy. He can already feel his body weakening and threatening to shut down on him. _Don’t you dare close your eyes! You’ll die if you faint here!_

His mind is a chaotic mess of warning screams and alarm bells, and it reminds him of a classroom full of students in a high school. It just _won’t_ simmer down. 

“Hey buddy.” he says out of the blue. The man’s dark eyes - Tendou only notices it now, but his eyes are really strange - turn to face him again, hopeful (?) and a little bit hungry. It’s the hunger that makes Tendou’s stomach do flip flops in his body. It is a dangerous kind of glint, one that looks like it’s barely being kept at bay. 

Tendou feels as if he’s staring death straight in the face, and he suddenly wishes that he had at least given Semi a hug before rushing off to class in the morning. Who knows if he’ll see his best friend again? 

Tendou shakes the thoughts out of his head. If he’s going to die, he’ll die knowing the name of his killer. So that he can haunt the man forever in his afterlife. 

With difficulty, he forces out his words. “Mind giving little old me a name to remember you by?” 

Apparently, the stranger takes it as a good sign - for whatever reason - because his face lights up just a little bit. “Ushijima Wakatoshi.” he answers in a heartbeat, close to a heady sigh of relief. 

_What’s he got to be relieved about?_

Tendou chuckles to himself, messy and wicked. “Ushijima Wakatoshi...” he repeats, the words tasting bitter on his tongue. He can’t believe he actually got him to respond. 

There’s a different kind of glimmer in Ushijima’s eyes now, and it unnerves Tendou slightly when he sees it. It’s more of an elated look than anything else, and it sends shivers down his spine at the thought that the man is this happy to be able to end someone’s life. 

He stares Ushijima down with defiant eyes; if he’s going to fall, he’ll do it with pride. He won’t let this bastard see how afraid he is, even though it is bound to be obvious from the way his hands tremble and lips quiver. 

He exhales a soft breath, and watches in mild confusion at the way Ushijima’s face forms that same complicated expression yet again. 

Several shouts come from his left, and he swings his head towards the sounds desperately. He can just about make out the outline of a couple of people running down the street to him, to them. One of them has ash-grey hair with black tips. 

Semi.

He barely has enough time to figure out how to escape before Ushijima’s head ducks down to his neck and he feels a flash of searing pain bloom under his skin. 

He gasps as his body lashes out instinctively, but feels his remaining strength ebbing away with each passing second. His flailing limbs droop pathetically and his legs give out. 

Sloppy gurgles and insistent sucking sounds are all he hears before he succumbs to the cloud of darkness in his mind. 

  
  
  
  


He wakes up to a splitting headache and a numb kind of pain in the side of his neck. 

Tendou forces his eyelids open, trying and failing not to wince at how bright the lights above him are. 

“Thank god! You’re finally awake!” a voice rings in his muddled head. He groans at the sudden loud sound, feeling overwhelmed by a surge of dizziness that tries to dismantle his brain and recreate a new organ. 

He sits up without help, and tenses up at the feeling of his muscles aching and protesting. He opens his mouth to speak, but only manages a few wheezes. A glass of liquid is pushed into his hands, and he gulps down the cool water gratefully. His parched throat sighs in relief when it feels the water running down, and when Tendou puts the now empty cup aside somewhere beside him on the bed, his vision clears a little. 

“What happened?” he croaks, his eyes shifting slowly from side to side. He’s in an unfamiliar room, and when he sweeps his gaze to the right he sees a white door with a small peep window in it. He must be in the hospital. 

Huh. What’s he doing in the hospital? 

Ash-grey hair with dyed black tips greets him next, although Semi is a considerable distance away from him, enough that he wouldn’t be able to touch him if he reached out a hand. 

“Eita-kun?” he trails off when he sees the red tinging the corners of Semi’s eyes. _Has he been crying?_

Tendou slumps over to the side and over his pillow when he tries to stand. His knees feel weak, and he has the strangest feeling that it’s got to do with that dream that he’s just woken up from. 

_Why’s he been crying?_

Semi rushes over to him the moment he sees his face pale from exertion, his expression pinched tight and his hands fluttering around vaguely like he doesn’t really know what to do with them. “You should lie down- You were hurt, so maybe standing up isn’t the best thing to do-” 

Tendou stares at him incredulously, which makes Semi squint at him suspiciously, like he’s done something weird. “What? Do I look that bad?” Tendou jokes, not liking the faint creases in Semi’s forehead or the way he’s eyeing him like he’s hit his head a little too hard for comfort. 

Semi lets out a soft, disbelieving sigh, his eyes blank and vacant as they move down to his neck. Tendou tilts his head, but rights himself up when he feels pain flare up in that area. _What the-_

He claps a hand to the side of his neck at the exact same time that Semi regains his composure and forces out a strained, “You don’t remember?” His voice is quiet, scared, and it terrifies Tendou because it’s so unlike him. 

Even though Semi worries about him a lot and always nags at him to come home early, he’s never sounded like he’s one step away from bawling his eyes out before. 

Tendou realises he doesn’t know what to do with this Semi, who blinks quickly at him and puts a shaking hand on top of his own. Semi peers at him with expectant eyes, but Tendou doesn’t know what he wants him to say. What can he say? 

He tries to sift through his hazy memories - why are they hazy? - and finds that he can’t really recall what happened beyond walking down the street and talking to Semi on the phone. 

His fingers skirt around the area on his neck that feels the worst, and the crinkle of a bandage under his fingertips tells him that it’s no superficial injury. It must have been a serious enough collision or something to render him this hurt and sensitive to the pain. He might even have gotten a concussion. 

He presses on the wound lightly, and is startled when he feels a burst of heat underneath. He frowns and tries it again. This time, the heat is more pronounced, more noticeable, like it wants to be acknowledged. 

He ignores it for the time being and refocuses on Semi’s concerned face. He bites his lip. “I- I don’t know.” he murmurs, his head suddenly feeling drowsy. _Did they put painkillers in the water?_

He really can’t decide if he can’t recall just because he’s still weak, or because he’s had some sort of head accident. He shakes his head to stay awake, reaching for the pillow and fisting one hand into its cover tightly. 

“My head hurts.” he admits, feeling faint. 

Semi seems to contemplate his answer before speaking. His hands ball into fists by his sides. “Satori- I-” he starts. And stops. Chews on his gum for a while. “I saw him.”

Tendou’s eyebrows furrow. “Him?” Semi nods furiously, and it is clear that his eyes are frightened from the tiny shift in his gaze. “He- He _bit_ you.” 

Tendou’s face twists into something bewildered. Something shocked. His fingers twitch against his neck unconsciously, like they know something about the statement that he doesn’t. “Whaddya mean by that?” he asks, uneasy. 

His head starts to spin even more now, and he has to brace himself on the backboard of the bed to keep from collapsing completely. Semi looks conflicted, torn between telling him the truth and _something._

His hand touches down on its own, and when that same pain explodes in the side of his neck, it’s not _just_ at that spot now. It’s everywhere, coursing through his veins, up to his brain where it wreaks havoc on his already jumbled mind and down to the tips of his toes. 

It leaves a strangely pleasant feeling in him when it fades, however, and he catches himself before he can betray his tumultuous emotions to Semi, who simply watches the grimace melt off his face. 

He tries to answer but, suddenly, Tendou doesn’t need his explanation anymore. 

_I remember,_ he thinks, alarmed by the clarity in which he envisions the man’s face again. It will forever be imprinted in his brain, that stupidly attractive face that hides a sadistic thirst for blood. 

Blood. 

Tendou’s eyes widen in realisation. Semi stops short in his speech when he sees the look on his face, and he hops in place, anxious. “Why? What’s wrong? Does it hurt anywhere??” 

With a reassuring hand on his forearm, Tendou manages to dissuade Semi from calling for a doctor, although he does warn that someone will be coming in to check on him soon anyway. 

Tendou struggles to fight the growing pounding in his head. He probably needs more sleep, but he needs to say it first before he goes comatose again.

“Eita-” he stiffens when the feeling of being watched is suddenly thrust upon him. 

It sends shivers down his spine, and his head whips around wildly before going to the window at the far end of the room, which is closed but glazed over with frost. 

For a split second, just a brief window of a moment, he thinks he sees a pair of dark, olive-brown eyes staring back at him before it’s gone. 

He heaves a shaky exhale, lowering his hand to his lap and watching as Semi turns his head to see what he’s looking at. When he doesn’t find what he’s looking for, Semi focuses on him again, his eyes apprehensive and low-key panicked. 

Tendou takes a deep breath, trying not to notice how his neck wound stings from the movement. “Eita, I think I might have a problem.” 

  
  
  
  


Things pretty much go back to normal after the incident. 

Semi doesn’t speak of it and neither does he, so Tendou figures that they should probably just be grateful he’s still alive and forget the whole thing even happened. 

The reports don’t stop, and even as they sit down side by side next to each other on the couch at home, the shivers don’t stop attacking his body from the inside. 

Each movement is now coupled by a tingling sensation in his blood, and Tendou, after being discharged from the hospital with the ‘okay’ sign from the doctor, hasn’t stopped feeling it since. It’s become something he has to get used to, that swell of heat that crashes over him with little regard for his mental health. 

He hasn’t breathed a word about his sudden new symptoms to Semi, or anyone else for the matter. He’s scared, but he’s even more terrified that Ushijima Wakatoshi, whoever he is, will come after him again. If it happens, he wants him nowhere near Semi or the people who know. 

He trudges up to the school gates after a long day at school, relieved that for once, he doesn’t have to stay late and finish up any projects that are due. He’s been given a week of reprieve before the next assignment really starts getting him stressed again. 

Looking around, he realises that most of the students have already gone home, and that the only other person around is a darkly dressed figure just outside his school gates. 

Tendou stops dead in his tracks. 

The shivers worsen when he recognises that bulky frame and mysterious presence. _What the fuck is this guy doing here?!_

Ushijima Wakatoshi looks up at the exact same moment that Tendou’s body starts acting up. He balks at the almost physical tugging sensation in his gut, _towards_ the person he’s trying to avoid. Ushijima opens his mouth, and that is when Tendou knows he has to get away. 

He doesn’t stop to listen to whatever Ushijima has to say, and he sprints away in the opposite direction at top speed, his legs a blur. 

“Tendou- Wait!” the deep, dark tone of Ushijima’s voice almost makes his head go soft, and he panics when he hears running footsteps behind him. 

He zips past the coffee shop that he and Semi frequent on days that they’re both free from student duties, but when he rounds the corner of the street, zigzagging as he goes to try and throw off his chaser, he screeches to a stop at the sight of Ushijima standing a mere building away. His expression turns frightened and he stumbles while trying to back away. 

He’s about to whirl around and take off for another direction when he feels hands yank him back. He shrieks, and his voice echoes back at him, forlorn and lonely. 

His phone is fished out of his back pocket for him, and he protests when his only form of communication with Semi is taken away from him and thrown to one side. It goes clattering onto the ground two blocks away, and Tendou is too hysterical to notice the fact that normal humans can’t possibly have strength enough to hurl objects that far. 

His heart pounds painfully in his chest, and his breathing is ragged. He struggles, but soon finds his arms pinned to his sides. Arms come around his middle and he’s bent forward by the pressure on his back. No amount of effort helps him to loosen the grip on his body. 

Ushijima is saying something, but he can’t hear it - won’t hear it. “Shit! You stalker, just leave me alone!” 

He goes limp when he feels the strength in his limbs drain away suddenly, too quick to be natural. Somehow, it is as if a spell has been put on him, and he feels himself calming down spectacularly fast considering the situation he’s in. 

_What’s happening?_ The fear gripping his chest and constricting his lungs is fading, even though his mind still screams at him to get away from danger. His first thought is that Ushijima has drugged him somehow. 

“Wh-What are you doing to me?” His speech is slow and confused and very much shaky. His hands tremble at his sides as he keeps completely still, not wanting to make any movements that could further anger his captor. 

Ushijima is barely panting, and Tendou dimly registers in the back of his head that he had actually been running ahead, and that it couldn’t have been possible for Ushijima to pass him so quickly and without being seen. 

_What is he?_ he suddenly thinks, as a hundred possibilities go through his head. 

A soft thumb tracing the side of his neck jerks him out of his thoughts. There is still a plaster stuck on tightly even though he doesn’t need it anymore. There’s a good reason for it, though, and he inhales sharply when the tingles turn into sparks that dance across his skin almost delightfully at Ushijima’s feather-like caress. 

The truth is, ever since he’d gotten back home and taken a good look at the wound on his neck, he had resolved never to show that part of him to the world anymore. He remembers the horror-laced fascination he had examined the injury with. It haunts him in his nightmares sometimes. 

In addition to two tiny puncture scars, a dark marking had made its home on his skin, like a purplish, reddish bruise. It’s not very big, and it hurts no more than the scratches on his body do, but it’s the curved shape of the mark that unnerves him - scares him.

A small ‘W’. 

It must not have been a coincidence that Ushijima’s given name began with the exact same letter, and it was believable that it had been caused by the bite delivered to his neck. The problem is how and why. 

Ushijima’s fingers skim the edge of his plaster, and before Tendou can tell him to piss off and stop touching him as he likes, he feels the crinkle of plastic against his skin, and then the plaster is peeled off. He doesn’t dare move an inch. 

Ushijima is silent for a few seconds, before his voice comes drifting close, only a few centimetres away from Tendou’s ear. “I am sorry...” 

Tendou blinks. Confusion pinches his eyebrows and makes his fingers clench tightly. “What?” Ushijima sighs against his neck and, to his shock, the warm breath causes a delightful tingling sensation to go shooting through his body. “I did not mean to scare you...” 

_Hold up, what the hell is going on right now?? Is he apologising to me?_

Tendou digs his fingernails into his palm, and winces when he realises that he’s not hallucinating. But, if so, why is this stranger - whom he has no association with whatsoever other than the bite mark on his neck - being so familiar with him? 

He’s even refraining from hurting him, Tendou notices. It’s in the stiff way he’s trying to keep his arms still, and it’s also in the gentle, slightly guilty voice ringing in his ears. 

Tendou can feel that his heartbeat has slowed down dramatically compared to five minutes ago, when he’d been thrown into panic at the thought of being bitten again. 

Oh. That reminds him. 

Tendou’s lips tremble when he plucks up the courage to speak up. “Uhm, Ushijima-san, if you don’t mind me asking. What are you?” Ushijima doesn’t answer him at first, and the only sign that he’s heard his question is the small hitch in breath against the back of his neck. 

He deflates a little, thinking that it was foolish of him to think he’d get an answer to a seemingly ridiculous inquiry. _What was I even thinking? Of course he’s a-_

“I am what you would call a vampire.” 

Tendou freezes again, and this time his body feels paralyzed. Shock doesn’t even compare to how his heart is threatening to burst right out of his chest. 

“A what?” he mumbles to himself, his eyes unseeing as he stares down at his feet helplessly. _I’m so screwed._

The television reports had been talking about how all the victims’ deaths had been unnatural. _Sucked dry of blood; still corpses turning up in the dead of the night; a useless search for a ghost of a killer._

Tendou ponders over the facts in his head for a moment, and his dread grows even deadlier in the pit of his stomach. 

“Tendou. Are you alright?” The voice jerks him out of his thoughts, and he hisses fiercely at Ushijima. “How do you know my name?” Ushijima opens his mouth to explain, but he is interrupted by a swift stomp to his foot that momentarily catches him by surprise. 

Tendou twists out of his hold quickly, but stays a short distance away, eyeing him with something akin to disgust and fear in his eyes. Ushijima purses his lips into a flat, frustrated line. Tendou glares at him, and when he speaks, there’s a scathing tone to his voice. “Leave me alone.” 

Ushijima frowns. “I-” he stops and seems to think his words over for a while. Tendou waits. He needs to stand his ground if he wants to have a chance of negotiating with Ushijima. Maybe he’ll find out how to erase that terrible mark on his neck. 

“I didn’t do it.” 

“...Huh? What does that even mean?” 

Ushijima sets his jaw, his dark gaze determined. “I won’t allow you to think such untrue things about me.” His eyes look pained. “I didn’t kill anybody.” Tendou stares at him disbelievingly, “Yeah right, that’s exactly what a murderer would say!” 

With a shake of his head, Ushijima’s spine slouches a little. He seems resigned. “It is the truth. I- I’ve never drank from anyone before.” 

Tendou’s incredulous expression makes him chuckle. “I- We- Vampires need blood to survive, but I’ve never attacked a human before-” An abrupt pause. A bite of his lower lip. 

_He’s not lying._

Tendou’s attention to detail is nothing to laugh at, and even he can tell how squeamish Ushijima is just talking about blood. The way his face contorts into this complicated but obviously uncomfortable expression, the slightly aggrieved tone of his voice, and even the firm way he carries himself when he’s speaking screams innocent. 

But that still doesn’t explain why he’d chased him down the streets and manhandled him like a ragdoll while he was making his way home. Tendou touches the side of his neck, which is still rather raw and stings whenever he moves his head. _That’s right._

He straightens up his back and plants his feet into the floor firmly. “Then, why did you bite me that day? Don’t give me that ‘never attacked a human before’ bullshit. I _know_ you were drinking my blood.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest, his expression fierce and his mouth set into a scowl. 

Right now, he only has Ushijima’s word and a convincing front put up by him to determine if he really isn’t the suspect that the whole city is looking for, but he refuses to just let himself believe a stranger’s words so easily. If Ushijima wants his forgiveness - or whatever it is that he wants with Tendou - then he’s going to have to prove that he’s worthy of it. 

“One wrong word, big guy, and you’ll lose your chance.” 

Ushijima’s lower lip catches between his teeth, and Tendou has to resist the urge to drop his steely gaze down to the red blooming on his pale lips. 

Releasing a small sigh of relief, Ushijima’s hand clenches and unclenches uneasily as he starts to explain. “I- You were bleeding that day,” Tendou frowns and tries to recall if he had injured himself when he’d gone crashing onto the pavement after a failed escape from Ushijima’s pursuit. He guesses he had. 

And with that, comes realisation. 

Fresh blood. A hungry vampire who usually restrains himself from hunting live human prey. Instant disaster waiting to happen. 

“Oh.” he says, blinking his senses back to reality. “I see.” 

Ushijima nods, glad that he doesn’t have to go down that path any further. Tendou seems to be able to handle all this new information quite well, despite being a human that has no prior knowledge about anything he’s being told. _As expected._

But the hardest part is yet to come. And he knows that this one will be the most difficult to swallow down, even though he had unthinkingly given away hints during their first accidental meeting. 

He had been drawn in by the sweetest smell of cinnamon and a distinctly strong aura he couldn’t seem to ignore, and inevitably stumbled across Tendou, who had been alone on the streets. 

The moment he had taken a good look at Tendou, liquid heat had filled his body and drove his instincts into a state of excitement so pure that it had completely overtaken his normal brain functions and plunged it into a state of hyperactivity. 

The mate he had been looking for ever since he had become of age was finally within his reach. But as ecstatic he had been, he had been unprepared for his instincts’ fight for control over his body, and had ended up chasing his poor mate away. 

What followed after should have been accounted for or at the very least had precautionary measures put in place to counter. The moment the scent of blood - sweet, rich and tangy blood - hit his senses, he had momentarily been distracted and relinquished control to his instincts. 

From then on the scene was hazy in his mind, but he could recall when he had regained full consciousness, and by the time he did his teeth had already been sunk deep into the side of a warm neck. 

The taste of human blood after forcing himself to stick to the plain, unsatisfactory blood of animals for so long had been overwhelming, to say the least. And it hadn’t been blood from just anyone’s body. 

Ushijima steels himself for backlash. “I...am your mate.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fret not, there will be more in the coming weeks, since this is a multi-chapter fic as well. Maybe won't be as quick to update as SSaMB was, since I have a shit ton of work from school:(( But if y'all are patient I can guarantee top-quality future chapters for you AHAHAH!! I don't know exactly how many chapters this will have, but for now it's at a tentative 3.
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated(I know I say this in almost every end note I put here but it's true!), and I would love to know what you guys think about my first Haikyuu AU!! Constructive criticism is welcome too! Thank you all for reading and I'll see you again soon!


End file.
